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Hubdub launches first UK site

Posted: 10/11/08 By: Judith Townend

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News prediction site, Hubdub.com, launched in the UK today, following its fast growth in the US and partnerships with Reuters and the Independent.

The site, which first launched in the US in February 2008, allows users to bet virtual money on the outcome of news stories - up to 2,000 at any one time.

Hubdub was taken to the US initially to make the most of the presidential election, Nigel Eccles, co-founder of the site told Journalism.co.uk.

"We knew we would get a lot of coverage. We felt we needed to pick one news market and then stick with it until it was gaining traction before launching in another market," said Eccles, who founded the site with his wife Lesley and friends Tom Griffiths, Rob Jones, and Chris Stafford.

The site has decided to launch in the UK now because of future relationships with British publishers, who want to put a UK version of Hubdub on their own news sites.

"We needed to have a UK version of Hubdub running in order for us to do that," Eccles said.

"Also as all of the core team are based in the UK we've wanted to have a UK version since launch."

Eccles said that the site has not felt the economic crisis too badly: "In the short term it has certainly driven a big increase in financial news.

"Longer term, in a downturn, I expect people will seek out cheap forms of entertainment. Hubdub is well positioned to capitalise on that. Additionally, there is now increased pressure for news publishers to get more reader engagement with a smaller editorial budget."

Hubdub's US site now has over 200,000 unique visitors per month and more than 800,000 predictions to date, with more than 2 million 'Hubdub dollars' staked every day.

Current UK questions open for predictions, include 'Where will Russell Brand next get a full-time job?'; 'When will the next breach of confidential data occur?' and 'Who will win Strictly Come Dancing?'.

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